Four countries edged past Taiwan in the 2018 Doing Business survey. In the 15th edition of the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report, released on October 31, Taiwan (or “Taiwan, China” in the World Bank’s nomenclature) slipped four notches from 11th place last year to 15th among the 190 economies surveyed. The four countries moving…
When is a foreign bank not a foreign bank? Answer: When it establishes a domestic subsidiary. Between 2007 and 2013, five leading international banks – Standard Chartered, Citi, HSBC, DBS, and ANZ – received approval from the financial authorities to expand their presence in Taiwan’s retail banking market by taking over the operations of local…
When it became evident that none of the 80 issues raised by AmCham Taipei’s various committees in the 2016 Taiwan White Paper had been fully resolved, the Taiwan government took action in hopes of assuring greater progress in the coming year on the current White Paper issues released in June. Deputy Minister Kung Ming-hsin of…
The 2017 AmCham Taipei “Doorknock” mission encounters a hard line on trade issues. Early on in the five-day AmCham Taipei “Doorknock” visit to Washington D.C. in late June, the delegation became starkly aware of just how much the operating style of the U.S. government has changed under the Trump administration. Even career government officials who…
Taiwan has made important improvements in its rules-making procedures. But some additional steps are needed. The Tsai Ing-wen administration deserves hearty applause for its extension of the notice and comment period for new laws and regulations from 14 to 60 days, an initiative that propels Taiwan to the front rank in Asia in the area…
Should the current target-expenditure system be extended? When the Taiwan government five years ago was working on how to revamp the National Health Insurance (NHI) program to help ensure its long-term sustainability, one of the new measures it adopted was a suggestion from the pharmaceutical industry that had been broached in AmCham Taipei’s 2010 Taiwan…
In its 2017 Taiwan White Paper released on June 8, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei assessed the performance of the first year of the Tsai Ing-wen administration from the viewpoint of the foreign business community. Introducing the content of the White Paper at a Chamber luncheon attended by more than a hundred members…
Does it make sense that businesses with fleets of motor vehicles are required by law to rent parking spaces they never use? Contending that the answer is clearly “no,” the Transportation & Logistics Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei has requested the authorities to eliminate a practice that serves the interest only…
Company HR representatives cite an urgent need for greater flexibility. When Deputy Labor Minister Liau Huei-Fang accepted an invitation from AmCham Taipei’s Human Resources Committee to exchange views with Committee members about recently implemented amendments to the Labor Standards Law (LSL), more than 100 HR specialists showed up for the meeting on April 19. The…
Taiwan revises its law, but eligibility terms seem strict. A revision to the Nationality Act passed in December and promulgated last month will make it easier–but not nearly as easy as many long-term foreign residents of Taiwan had hoped–for nationals of other countries to become citizens of the Republic of China without having to relinquish…
